Is the XFL Ready to be the NFL’s Competition?

WWE CEO, plans on reigniting the XFL football league after almost a two decade disappearance.

Vince McMahon, CEO of the WWE and billionaire businessman, stepped up to a podium on Thursday, January 25th and announced that the XFL will be making its famous return. McMahon and the new XFL league will aim to make its official return venture in January 2020.

If you are not familiar with the XFL, it was a football league created by Vince McMahon and the WWE in 1999. It became extremely popular and created an immense amount of hype due to its constant controversies, lack of quality of play and organizational problems. These problems eventually led to the downfall of the league which only lasted one full season back in 2001.

McMahon plans on remaining the Chairman and CEO of the WWE but has created Alpha Entertainment, which will be a separate entity from the WWE. McMahon recently sold about 100 million dollars of WWE stock to help fund Alpha Entertainment. The entertainment company will also obtain the XFL trademarks and rights that were deserted by the WWE in 2002 through 2005.

With the reboot of the XFL, Vince McMahon spoke on the former state of the league.

New plans for the XFL include eight league-owned teams that will be located in cities across the country, which have not been determined at this point in time. It is set that each team will play a ten game regular season that will be followed by a postseason, two semi-final games and a championship game. Each team will consist of a 40 manned roster that will be incentive based on statistics and winning play.

On Thursday Alpha Entertainment released a statement on behalf of the XFL football league.

“This is the future. This is not the past. This is the future. And the future moves fast. This is quicker, simpler. Rules, reformed. This is your game safer. This is football reborn. This is gaming and fantasy, this is padded roulette. Make a trade, make a team, make a move, make a bet. This is fans above all. This is maximum action. Less stall more ball. Fewer infractions. This begins in 2020. The future is near. More access. More everyone. More everything here. This is our moment, our story to tell. This is history begun. This is the XFL.”

McMahon, the sports Mogul spoke about how the newly reformed XFL will be changed for the better during his press conference on Thursday.

“The new XFL is an exciting opportunity to reimagine America’s favorite sport. As we move towards kickoff, we look forward to listening and implementing innovative ideas from players, coaches, medical experts, technology executives, the media and most importantly football fans.”

The league has stated that their new player policy will consist of strict off-field conduct rules and all personnel will consult with safety experts to address the risk of concussions and other serious injuries.

“We are evaluating a player based on many things, including the quality of human being they are. If you have any sort of criminal record or commit a crime you aren’t playing in this league.” Said McMahon to the press on Thursday.

The XFL football league will also implement a rule that all players and staff will stand for the national anthem before kickoff, each and every game.

“I think, again, it’s a time-honored tradition to stand and appreciate the national anthem with any sport. Here in America, for that matter, in any country…so I think it’d be appropriate to do that.”

McMahon also had this to say on the matter “Whatever our rules are is what everyone will abide by.”

The return of the reformed XFL football league could show some great opportunity to other people in the sports world. With the newly implemented rules and promising “fan-centric, innovative experience, with shorter, fast-paced games and a family-friendly environment” could project itself as the perfect outlet or product for those fans boycotting, not watching NFL games in the future or you are a football fan just looking for something different.

The XFL may not be the NFL but if planned and executed correctly this time around, could create some definite competition in the world of professional football, a world that the NFL believes they have monopolized. If Vince McMahon has actually learned from his mistakes in the past, he may be on to something big.

Unfortunately, games will not be played until 2020, but what we do know is that the XFL is back!

About The Editor

Originally from Canton, Michigan, Hank Eckardt graduated from the University of Notre Dame with degrees in Political Science and Spanish. He then moved to Washington, D.C. to work for Congressman Kerry Bentivolio in 2014. After working in political fundraising for 3 years, he began as editor-in-chief of TheLead.com in June 2017.